Icall it a hall tree. It’s an antique piece of furniture with hooks for coats, a lovely mirror, and two umbrella stands -- each with a tin plate to catch the drips. My husband surprised me with it one Christmas morning more than 30 years ago, and I’ve loved it every day since.

Yesterday, I casually mentioned that I’m thinking about painting it. Let’s just say Harold, a quiet man who usually thinks my decorating ideas are inspired, was not thrilled.

He pointed out that it’s an English piece from the 1850s. It must be worth a fortune by now. Painting it, he warned, would destroy its value. He knows this because we watch “Antiques Roadshow.” It’s the patina, he said. The original steel hooks. The tin plates that were once painted black -- paint that’s now mostly peeled away, revealing more

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